Chapter 85: Summer Welcome Co-op Game (7)

– Bam-ba-ra-bam~!

A loud, blaring fanfare suddenly echoed in my ears.

“Uwah!”

I instinctively jerked my shoulders in surprise.

W-What was that? That sound just now… Did it come from the game?

I glanced around, but Raidel and Siren were still on edge, cautiously scanning the area.

It seemed they hadn’t heard it at all.

Which meant… it wasn’t a game sound.

Looking around to figure it out, I finally spotted it.

《‘YeonaganeAgaya’ has sent a 100,000-won mission!》

• Survive the first day and get 100,000 won.

A mission donation message had popped up.

Mission donations.

Unlike regular donations, they set a challenge, and if the streamer clears it, they receive the donation.

Both the viewer who sets the mission and the streamer can see a “Mission Clear” button.

Of course, there were a few dubious streamers who would just say,

“I’ll definitely do it!” and take the donation without delivering.

But that was rare.

Usually, the proper way was to complete the challenge to earn the reward.

So that loud sound earlier… it was from this.

I knew the feature existed, but it was my first time actually receiving one.

“Th-Thank you. I’ll definitely survive the first day.”

I accepted the mission and opened the settings.

The mission notification sound was way too loud.

In a horror game, a sudden noise like that was scarier than the monsters.

I needed to lower the sound effects… but how did I do that again?

– 「Sound settings! Check the settings menu, Seo-yeon!」

– 「Go to audio settings, there should be an interface sound option.」

– 「There’s probably a shortcut for it?」

– 「ㅋㅋㅋ It’s cute how new you are to streaming」

Following the chat’s advice, I opened the interface window and finally managed to lower the sound effect volume to a reasonable level.

Anyway, 100,000 won for surviving the first day.

‘How many chickens is that?’

Considering how chicken prices keep skyrocketing, it wasn’t as many as I’d like…

Still, it was a decent amount, and the mission itself seemed doable.

“Seo-yeon?”

“Oh, nothing. Let’s move on.”

I steadied myself, bracing for more tension, and took a step into the Waste Disposal Zone B-3.

The atmosphere inside was immediately different from the previous area.

The air was damp and heavy, with a metallic, bloody smell piercing my nose.

The space was much larger and more complex, filled with structures blocking the view.

The halted conveyor belts looked like giant snakes sprawled across the floor,

and the sharp blades of the crushers gleamed like a predator’s fangs in the darkness.

Piles of waste were stacked like mountains,

and rusty, unidentified liquid dripped from the ceiling, making an unpleasant noise.

The atmosphere was far more ominous.

Every step I took, the scattered metal shards on the floor made echoing clatters.

“Wow, the deeper we go, the scarier it gets…”

Siren, surprisingly, looked around rather boldly.

And then—

Screeeech—!

A piercing, guttural screech burst out from behind a pile of waste right in front of us.

At the same time, something massive shoved aside the garbage and revealed itself.

“…!”

It wasn’t just one.

Four.

Compared to the octopus monster we fought earlier, these were far more grotesque.

They looked like giant mutated mantises, scaled up by fifty times and made even more hideous.

Their slick, oily, dark-red skin was covered in sharp, protruding bones.

Four long, slender legs, resembling those of an insect, ended with razor-sharp claws.

The head had a massive jaw lined with shark-like teeth,

and the mantis-like forearms, shaped like blades, looked especially dangerous.

It was a monstrous creature that defied identification—part insect, part horror.

Its glowing, red eyes focused on me.

And then—

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

As if to counter the monster’s roar, Raidel screamed at the top of her lungs.

This time, her scream was almost dolphin-squeal level.

“R-Run! Run awayyyyy!”

Completely overwhelmed by the monstrous sight, Raidel was now fleeing without a second thought.

It was a total contrast to how she had aggressively swung her pickaxe at the octopus monster earlier.

– 「ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Run for your life!」

– 「Pants runㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「Delbung is legendary todayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「She’s always been a scaredy-catㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

Her intense scream immediately caught the monsters’ attention.

The four creatures reacted at once,

drawn by her shrill voice, and charged after her at full speed.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The heavy footsteps quickly faded away.

‘…’

It all happened so fast that I just stood there, dazed.

‘Running away like that… actually, isn’t that a good thing?’

Raidel’s voice and the sound of her fleeing footsteps…

To the monsters, she was the perfect bait.

In the end, she managed to draw all four monsters away from us.

– 「Crazy, she’s running so fastㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「She’s got perfect aggro controlㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「High-performance loudspeakerㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「If she gets caught, it’s gonna be legendary」

– 「Wide-area provocation, aggro pulling efficiency 100%ㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

‘Judging by the direction of the fading sound… she’s running in a big circle.’

I could hear Raidel’s screams and footsteps echoing around the large space.

With the monsters all following her, I moved out of their sight.

‘Time to ambush.’

Once the monsters looped back around while chasing Raidel,

I’d catch them from behind.

I quietly hid at the corner of the path they had taken.

My prediction was right.

Soon, Raidel’s screams got closer again.

“Save meeee! Don’t come any closer!”

Thud! Thud!

One of the monsters rounded the corner and came into my view.

It was too focused on chasing Raidel to notice me.

‘Now.’

Swoosh.

I slid across the floor and closed the distance.

The creature’s nape, where a series of bony spikes jutted out like a spine,

instinctively looked like a weak point.

“Hup!”

I held my breath and swung the pickaxe down with all my strength.

Thunk!

A dull, cracking sound.

The pickaxe blade struck the monster’s cervical spine with pinpoint accuracy.

Grr…ggk!

The creature couldn’t even scream properly as it collapsed on the spot.

Its body twitched briefly before going completely still.

– 「Wow…」

– 「Insane assassination ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ」

– 「Did she really take it down???」

– 「Is she a ninja or whatㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「This is the first time I’ve seen someone actually kill that mantis monster」

First kill complete.

I held my breath and hid behind the wreckage of a machine again.

Soon, the second monster appeared.

It was also too focused on chasing Raidel to notice its surroundings.

I used the same method, silently approaching and striking its weak point.

Thwack!

The third monster turned the corner.

As soon as it saw the bodies of the first two monsters,

it hesitated and looked around, unlike the others before it.

‘The AI is better than I thought.’

I expected it to just charge blindly.

Though it seemed a bit surprised,

thanks to my good hiding spot, it didn’t find me.

After determining that there was no one around,

the monster let its guard down.

Taking that opportunity, I dashed forward and struck the third monster’s neck.

Crunch!

– 「Triple killㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「This is insane… What the heckㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「When I played, I was so scared I almost peed, and she’s taking them all down;」

– 「Wait, are you even supposed to kill these monsters?」

《‘SilverFan’ has donated 3,000 won!》

• If the streamer is scarier than the monster, upvote

– 「Upvote」

– 「Upvoteㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「For real, shouldn’t the monsters be the ones running away?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

Anyway, three down.

‘…Where’s the last one?’

Raidel’s screaming had stopped at some point.

Where did the fourth one go?

Did it lose track of Raidel and take another path?

I cautiously peeked out from behind the machine wreckage to scan the area.

Not far away—

“…Siren?”

Beyond the broken conveyor belt.

I saw a familiar white space suit.

It was Siren.

And in front of her—

The final remaining predator monster.

“Siren! I’ll help…!”

Danger.

Just as I was about to rush to her aid—

“Krugh!”

The monster suddenly let out a strangled death cry and collapsed backward.

Standing in front of it, gasping for breath, was Siren, swaying on her feet.

The monster lay completely motionless, like a corpse.

“Hah… Haah… I-I got it… Hehe.”

Siren smiled with relief, though still trembling slightly.

“Ah, but… it really hurt… I think I lost a lot of HP…”

Her voice wavered as if exhausted.

Her space suit had several scratches and dents, showing it had been a close call.

With effort, Siren approached the fallen monster and lifted its head by the neck.

The hideous, sharp-fanged jaw hung loosely.

“Seo-yeon! I-I did it by myself! Did you see?”

Despite her fatigue, her voice was filled with pride.

Holding the monster’s bleeding head, she smiled brightly,

complaining about the pain yet looking triumphant—like a proud fisherman holding a prized catch.

It was almost like she’d forgotten they were playing a horror game.

“…Uh? Yes… I did.”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

‘Siren… you’re surprisingly bold.’

No, more than bold—maybe she’s adapting to this game better than anyone else.

– 「ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What’s with Sirenㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「Why is her expression so happyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

– 「It’s actually scarier seeing her smile while holding that thing;;;」

– 「Is she a psychopath VTuber? ㄷㄷㄷ」

– 「I didn’t expect her to be fearlessㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ」

In the end, we took down all four monsters.

“Are… are they all dead? I thought I was gonna die…”

Raidel finally caught up, panting heavily.

Though her suit was covered in waste, she didn’t seem injured.

Her voice sounded a bit shaky, but it was probably just my imagination.

“Yes. You did a great job drawing aggro, Raidel.”

“Huh? Oh… Ah! Y-Yeah. That’s what I was going for. I-I screamed on purpose… Really.”

Raidel answered awkwardly, clearly trying to save face.

It seemed like the chat had been teasing her quite a bit.

With the monsters down, it was time to start looting…

Clunk!

A loud, heavy sound echoed through the area,

like a massive lock being released.

It came from deep within the Waste Disposal Zone.

It wasn’t just random noise; it was too distinct and heavy.

“…What was that sound?”

Siren tilted her head, confused.

Raidel also turned toward the direction of the noise.

– 「What was that sound??」

– 「Isn’t B-3 supposed to be pretty empty? That noise shouldn’t be there.」

– 「For real, what was that?」

– 「Sounded like a door opening?」

– 「I’m scared…」

Though it was hard to see in the darkness,

even the viewers who had played before seemed to be hearing that sound for the first time.